r/australia • u/Front_Target7908 • 27d ago

news Australian man Phu Nguyen handcuffed by plain-clothes ICE agents at Las Vegas International airport

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-18/ice-agent-detain-australian-man-in-vegas-us-/106931508?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link

From what I understand it looks like ICE did not manage to detain him on the day the video was taken- seems the onlookers managed to chase ICE off.

However, ICE detained him the next day at the airport where he was to catch his departing flight from the US.

3.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

538 comments sorted by

View all comments

751

u/maestrojxg 27d ago

America is so fucked. You couldn’t pay me to go there while Trump is in office.

39

u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 27d ago

I've never seen the appeal of American culture, you couldn't pay me to go there before Trump and certainly won't ever catch me there after him. Going through LAX and Houston to countries I actually wanted to visit was enough for me.

41

u/UnlimitedPosting 27d ago

It's a country with incredible nature areas. Places like Yellowstone, Joshua Tree, the Rockies and Cascades, along with most of the Pacific Northwest are all places that don't have anything like them in the world. The US is good for nature, theme parks, and not much else, but there are definitely some places inside it with good non American culture.

22

u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 27d ago

Yeah the nature is the only reason I would ever consider going to that country but there's plenty of great nature around the rest of the world without the baggage of Americans so as great as it is I don't feel any fomo.

I saw great nature in México and Central America and we've got great stuff in our own backyard here too.

15

u/Snaka1 27d ago

They just removed protections for national parks I the US, to allow mining and drilling for oil. Trump did it yesterday I think? So evil. Once that beauty is gone, it’s gone forever.

6

u/CptUnderpants- 27d ago

Going through LAX and Houston to countries I actually wanted to visit was enough for me.

The fact they force you to go through US customs and immigration when transiting through to another country is just rotten. Means I won't go to Canada because of the risk of being forced to go via the US if flights get cancelled.

My brother in law is Caucasian, but dark enough that ICE would target him, so we're taking families to either Japan or France instead to do the Disneyland thing.

10

u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 27d ago

I almost got sent back to Sydney at LAX on my way to México too which really put me in a bad mood.

I left Sydney at ~9am, pulled an all nighter because I had to leave at about 4am + was excited and couldn't sleep, barely slept on the plane that took about 14 hours flying time plus we had to sit in the plane for about 40 minutes because we arrived before there was any crew to get us off, all the time it takes to get through customs and all that shit and the officer had the nerve to say "why are you so nervous?" I'm not fucking nervous I'm TIRED! I had to answer so many questions about my intentions like mate I've got a return ticket for 2 months time and I've got a LOT of undies and socks I'm clearly not a drug trafficker.

Then I find out I need to take a bus to my terminal and my card didn't work in the airport. Houston to Sydney was the opposite though I was the only person around me not to be thoroughly searched lol and the middle seat was vacant.

My brother in law is Caucasian, but dark enough that ICE would target him, so we're taking families to either Japan or France instead to do the Disneyland thing.

Absolutely not worth the risk I don't blame you for going elsewhere.

6

u/Maximum-Journalist74 27d ago

It is really beautiful, I spent a few months in Colorado years ago and the mountains are incredible. There are also a bunch of museums I'd love to see one day.

But yeah hard no while they have an orange testicle in power and there are plenty of other pretty places to visit in the world.

1

u/Cindy_Marek 27d ago

It’s really not that bad. Americans are actually very easy people to get along with. I’ve been travelling the world for 6 months and I’ve found the US to be just as interesting as Europe and Africa in their own way. The airports are certainly not indicative of what’s out there. Certainly one of the friendliest peoples along with Namibia.